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On May 28, in his speech related to May heroic battles, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov stated “…because in Karakilisa, more than in Sardarapat and Bash Apaaran, Armenian’s future existence was decided”.
With no intention to underestimate the importance of Karakilisa (now Vanadzor) battles, we will try to see whether it can be considered more important than the battles of Bash Aparan and Sardarapat taking place on the same days.
The reality consists in the following: 7000 Armenian soldiers fought against the Turkish army of 10,000 in Karakilisa. The main actions started on May 25. Turks turned to general offensive on May 28 and two days later occupied Karakilisa (Vanadzor). Having lost in Sardarapat and Bash Aparan, they did not move towards Dilijan and Ghazakh but changed the direction of attack towards Shulaver and Tbilisi (where, by and large, there was no resistance).
Karakilisa remained under the control of Turkish troops for about ten days, as a result of which thousands of Armenians were killed (according to estimations, 10,000 people, including military and civilians).
In other words, despite what Eduard Sharmazanov claimed, the Armenian side did not register a military victory in Karakilisa battle and unfortunately could not keep the city… However, the defeat of the Turkish side in Sardarapat and Bash Aparan made them leave the already occupied Karakilisa.
Note that Eduard Sharmazanov is a historian by profession and it is not clear whether the aforementioned disinformation is a result of lack of knowledge or a “slight” twist of facts aimed at inspiring his countrymen from Lori.
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